Teaching  Social  Hygiene 
Through  Literature 


I. 

SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

BY 

LUCY  S.  CURTISS 

English  Department,  Bridgeport  (Connecticut)  High  School 

II. 

OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  SEX  EDUCATION 
IN  ENGLISH  CLASSES 

BY 

LOUISE  B.  THOMPSON 

English  Department,  Woodward  High  School,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 


THE  AMERICAN  SOCIAL  HYGIENE  ASSOCIATION 
Incorporated 


370  SEVENTH  AVENUE 


NEW  YORK  CITY 


Keprinted  from  Social  Hygiene,  Vol.  VI,  Nos.  2  and  3,  pp.  263-272,  39/1-399, 

April  and  July,  19-20 
Copyright  19-20 

The  American  Social  Hygiene  Association,  Inc. 

370  Seventh  Avenue,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Publication  No.  309 


/ 


FOREWORD 


Most  teachers  of  literature  fully  appreciate  the  opportunity  that 
their  subject  offers  for  the  development  of  character.  No  other 
academic  branch,  with  the  possible  exception  of  civics  and  sociology, 
furnishes  so  rich  a  field  for  the  inculcation  of  high  standards  of 
conduct  and  high  ideals  of  life.  Does  every  teacher  realize,  however, 
that  it  is  not  only  her  opportunity  but  her  duty  to  extend  her  field 
of  teaching  to  include  social  hygiene?  The-- purpose  off-the  articles 
irj— this  pamphlet  is  to  impress  this  truth  upon  every  teacher  of 
English.  She,  perhaps  more  than  any  other  person  outside  the  child’s 
immediate  family,  can  emphasize  the  results  of  wrong  ways  of  living, 
and  by  personal  discussion  with  her  boys  and  girls,  can  bring  home 
the  importance  of  right  living,  not  only  to  themselves  and  to  the 
community,  but  to  their  ‘  ‘  afterselves.  ’ 9 

The  part  of  the  English  teacher  in  social  hygiene  is  not  that  of  the 
biologist,  but  rather  that  of  the  artist — to  paint  the  picture  of  sex  in 
the  colors  of  beauty.  By  holding  up  “the  good,  the  true,  and  the 
beautiful,”  without  concealing  the  other  side,  they  are  lessening  the 
opportunities  for  the  “evil”  to  become  entrenched  in  the  lives  of  our 
young  people. 

In  this  “movement  for  a  better  world  in  the  next  generation,”  the 
American  Social  Hygiene  Association  stands  ready  to  lend  a  helping 
hand  by  providing  literature,  recommending  and  evaluating  books, 
and  generally  by  making  available  the  services  of  its  staff  of  experts 
in  all  phases  of  the  field.  Plans  are  now  being  formulated  for  evolving 
material  and  methods  for  use  in  this  type  of  instruction.  .  > 


\ 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

LUCY  S.  CUKTISS 

English  Department,  Bridgeport  (Connecticut)  High  School 

When  the  fourfold  plan  of  the  government  for  sex  instruction  was 
first  outlined  to  me  I  was  at  once  impressed  with  the  practical  impor¬ 
tance  of  the  instruction  which  might  be  given  from  the  standpoint 
of  health  by  the  physical  instructors,  from  the  standpoint  of  scien¬ 
tific  knowledge  through  the  biology  department,  and  from  the  stand¬ 
point  of  social  ethics  in  the  civics  classes;  but  I  thought  that  in 
approaching  the  English  department  also  the  leaders  were  going 
rather  far  afield.  It  seemed,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  influence  of 
that  department  would  be  too  indirect  to  be  of  special  value,  and  in 
the  second  place  that  all  earnest  English  teachers  were  already 
endeavoring  through  their  teaching  to  inculcate  higher  ideals  and 
consequently  higher  standards  of  life  among  their  pupils. 

But  further  thought  has  convinced  me  of  two  things :  first,  that  we 
English  teachers  need  to  be  awakened  to  the  challenge  of  this  prob¬ 
lem  of  social  evil  and  our  responsibility  toward  it ;  and  secondly,  that 
after  all,  the  indirect  method  of  teaching  is  scarcely  less  important 
than  the  direct,  and  each  supplements  the  other.  I  say  first  that  we 
need  to  be  awakened  to  the  importance  of  this  problem.  It  may  be 
that  the  inspired  prophet  speaks  things  the  significance  and  far-reach¬ 
ing  effect  of  which  he  only  half  understands;  but  I  doubt  whether 
the  teacher,  however  inspired,  can  ever  produce  upon  his  class  a 
lasting  impression  of  any  truth  unless  he  has  first  been  gripped  by 
that  truth.  It  is  our  business  to  know  the  conditions  of  the  society 
about  us,  to  understand  the  physical  development  of  our  pupils,  and 
to  realize  the  influences  for  good  and  for  evil  to  which  they  are  sub¬ 
jected.  Unless  we  have  this  background  of  sympathetic  understand¬ 
ing  and  of  positive  conviction,  our  influence  will  not  count  for  much 
in  this  movement  for  a  purer  world  in  the  next  generation. 

But  we  need  to  realize,  in  the  second  place,  the  effectiveness  of  the 
indirect  method  of  combating  the  social  evils.  The  most  dangerous 


6 


SOCIAL  HYGIENE 


forms  of  propaganda  have  been  those  insidious,  subtle  forms  which 
influence  the  thought  of  many  people  without  being  recognized  as 
propaganda  at  all.  There  is  a  propaganda*  as  subtle,  as  elusive, 
which  is  undermining  the  character  of  our  boys  and  girls  and  poison¬ 
ing  social  life;  and  to  us  English  teachers  more  than  to  any  other 
group  except  librarians  is  given  the  privilege  of  combating  this  bane¬ 
ful  influence.  I  refer,  of  course,  to  the  books  which  they  read,  and 
which  are  richly  supplemented  by  productions  in  the  movies  and  on 
the  stage. 

There  is  the  fortunate  pupil  who  has  early  formed  a  taste  for  good 
reading.  He  presents  no  problem ;  we  have  only  to  build  upon  a  good 
foundation  and  our  task  is  pleasant.  At  the  other  extreme  is  the 
pupil  who  never  reads  anything,  except  perhaps  the  sporting  page 
of  the  newspaper.  I  was  shocked  the  first  time  I  discovered  a  boy 
who,  after  much  reflection,  could  not  remember  ever  having  read  a 
book,  and  could  recall  reading  only  one  magazine ;  but  I  have  ceased 
to  be  surprised  even  by  this  situation.  What  have  that  boy’s  home 
influences  probably  been?  Who  have  been  his  associates?  What 
the  standards  of  life  that  he  has  seen?  He  needs  an  awakening  of 
the  imagination,  a  glimpse  of  other  types  of  society  than  his  own,  an 
appreciation  of  the  great  ideals  of  literature. 

Between  these  two  extremes,  however,  come  the  great  mass  of  our 
pupils.  They  have  read  more  or  less  extensively,  entirely  at  random. 
The  boys  have  been  lucky.  They  have  found  tales  of  adventure, 
marvelous  and  startling  it  may  be,  perhaps  with  all  kinds  of  rascality 
parading  under  the  guise  of  heroism ;  but  at  least  they  have  sedulously 
avoided  the  mushy,  sentimental  stuff  over  which  the  girls  have  pored 
with  delight.  And  what  an  array  it  is ! 

Do  you  English  teachers  know  the  books  your  girls  are  reading? 
To  peruse  them  fairly  frequently,  I  believe,  is  profitable  occupation 
for  us.  Let  us  read  them  sanely,  realizing  that  the  girl  in  her  teens 
passes  over  much  which  seems  to  us  significant;  let  us  read  them 
sympathetically,  remembering  that  we  once  reverenced  the  heroines 
of  E.  P.  Roe  and  wept  over  the  misfortunes  of  Ellen  in  The  Wide, 
Wide  World ;  but  let  us  read  them  thoughtfully,  that  we  may  under¬ 
stand  the  mental  atmosphere  in  which  these  girls  are  moving. 

Let  me  give  you  a  few  specimens  of  the  books  which  our  own 
librarians  have  selected  for  me  as  having  the  widest  circulation 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


7 


among  girls  of  high  school  age.  There  is  Harold  Bell  Wright’s  That 
Printer  of  Udell’s.  The  hero,  a  common  printer  who  has  known  all  of 
the  bitterness  and  much  of  the  evil  of  life,  falls  in  love  at  first  sight 
with  the  beautiful  daughter  of  a  prominent  and  wealthy  man.  Feeling 
himself  unworthy  of  her,  he  laves  in  silence.  Time  goes  on  and  the 
girl  leaves  home.  She  is  followed  and  nearly  trapped  by  a  rich 
young  villain.  She  escapes  from  his  clutches  and  wanders,  helpless 
and  forlorn,  in  a  strange  city.  Finally  she  is  befriended  by  a  beau¬ 
tiful  and  apparently  kind  woman  who  introduces  her  to  a  life  of 
shame.  She  is  rescued  by  the  hero  at  the  critical  moment,  and 
eventually  marries  him,  her  fall  having  leveled  the  barriers  that  had 
previously  existed  between  them.  One  of  the  most  vivid  pictures  in 
the  novel  is  this  den  of  vice,  furnished  in  luxury,  blazing  with  light, 
filled  with  brilliantly  dressed  men  and  women  bent  on  licentious 
pleasure.  What  impression  would  this  scene  leave  upon  the  mind 
of  the  girl?  Certainly  the  whole  situation  is  an  unwholesome  satis¬ 
faction  of  her  normal  craving  for  romance. 

Or  take  The  Judgment  of  Eve ,  by  May  Sinclair,  a  little  volume 
published  by  Harper’s  and  so  attractively  bound  in  a  violet-be¬ 
sprinkled  cover,  with  violet-margined  leaves,  that  any  girl  would  be 
attracted  to  it.  The  heroine  is  the  richest,  the  handsomest,  and  the 
best-dressed  girl  in  the  village.  She  could  have  had  her  pick  of  all 
available  suitors  while  “the  other  young  ladies  were  happy  enough 
if  they  could  get  her  leavings” — a  young  girl  who  “had  exhausted 
Queningford;  it  had  no  more  to  give  her.”  This  promising  young 
heroine  is  debating  over  two  suitors,  having  finally  eliminated  all 
others.  Her  problem  would  appeal  to  many  a  young  girl  who  is  ask¬ 
ing  herself  in  all  seriousness,  as  Aggie  asks  herself,  “How  can  you 
tell  when  you  really  love  a  man?”  She  takes  the  one  with  stylish 
clothes,  a  polished  manner,  a  smattering  of  poetry  and  art,  the  one 
with  such  unbounded  sympathy  that  “there  was  nothing  in  the  soul 
of  Aggie  that  Mr.  Gatty  had  not  found  out  and  understood.”  He 
proves  himself  to  be  inefficient,  unable  to  make  a  good  living,  and 
equally  unable  to  restrain  his  nonpoetical  physical  instincts.  Six 
children  come  in  as  many  years.  Her  health,  her  beauty,  and  her 
longings  for  art  all  disappear.  Doctors’  warnings  come  to  both 
husband  and  wife,  but  they  are  unheeded,  and  she  dies  at  last  as  she 


8 


SOCIAL  HYGIENE 


gives  birth  to  her  eighth  child,  worn  ont  by  the  long  struggle,  and 
leaving  her  husband  bowed  down  with  a  remorse  that  came  too  late. 

One  of  Robert  W.  Chambers’  latest  books  is  The  Girl  Philippa. 
The  story  opens  in  a  cabaret  in  a  French  town  in  which  Philippa 
is  serving,  ostensibly  as  cashier,  really  as  spy  for  the  proprietor  who 
is  playing  a  double  game,  being  in  the  employ  of  both  the  French 
and  the  German  governments.  While  dancing  and  flirting  with  an 
American  artist,  twice  her  age,  who  is  evidently  not  unfamiliar  with 
the  inside  of  cabarets,  she  falls  desperately  in  love  with  him.  He  also, 
upon  his  first  sight  of  her,  has  discovered  that  underneath  the  paint 
and  powder  “there  is  a  soul  as  clean  as  a  flame.”  Eventually  she 
escapes  from  the  place  and  follows  the  artist,  begging  only  to  be 
allowed  to  remain  near  him.  After  a  complicated  series  of  spy  activi¬ 
ties,  secret  attacks,  and  superhuman  rescues,  Philippa,  who  has  sud¬ 
denly  developed  an  amazingly  perfect  character,  is  proved  to  be  a 
kidnapped  Bulgarian  princess,  marries  the  artist,  and  lives  happily 
ever  after. 

It  is  hard  to  know  just  what  would  be  the  reaction  of  a  girl  toward 
such  books.  Would  the  vivid  description  of  life  in  cabarets  and 
houses  of  ill  repute  repel  her,  or  would  they  arouse  an  unwholesome 
curiosity  or  even  a  spirit  of  investigation?  Undoubtedly  that  would 
depend  upon  the  individual,  but  one  does  not  like  to  have  girls  read¬ 
ing  such  passages  as  this,  from  a  speech  of  the  artist  mentioned 
above,  before,  like  Benedict,  he  succumbs  to  fate:  “I  have  no  serious 
use  for  women.  To  me  the  normal  and  healthy  woman  is  as  naive  as 
the  domestic  and  blameless  cat  whose  first  ambition  is  for  a  mate, 
whose  second  is  to  be  permanently  and  agreeably  protected,  and 
whose  ultimate  aim  is  to  acquire  a  warm  basket  by  the  fireside  and 
fill  it  full  of  kittens!  Women!  Ha!  By  the  way,  I’ve  a  bunch  of 
them  here  in  Sais,  all  painting  away  like  the  devil  and  all,  no  doubt, 
laying  plans  for  that  fireside  basket.  ’  ’ 

The  following  statement,  taken  recently  from  a  theme  upon  the 
subject,  “A  Popular  Author,”  is  rather  illuminating:  “Mary  Roberts 
Rinehart’s  books  appeal  to  me  because  they  aim  to  bring  out  the 
everyday  happenings  in  life,  especially  in  the  criminal  world.  Her 
works  make  clear  to  one  how  very  different  one  man  is  from  another, 
and  how  constant  cleverness  and  quick-wittedness  can  produce  in  one 
a  master  criminal.  Any  one  will  read  a  book  wherein  is  revealed  the 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


9 


downfall  or  rise  of  a  character,  but  few  read  a  book  that  is  ‘just  so’ 
and  rests  on  a  level,  so  to  speak,  lest  it  transgress  the  bounds  of  con * 
ventionality.”  (The  italics  are  mine.) 

When  a  Man  Marries  is  a  novel  by  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart  which 
will  illustrate  the  meaning  of  the  writer  regarding  the  author  who 
does  not  hesitate  ‘ ‘to  transgress  the  bounds  of  conventionality.” 
The  plot  consists  of  a  clever  and  amusing  impersonation,  by  a  witty 
and  frivolous  woman,  of  the  hero’s  divorced  wife,  in  order  that  his 
maiden  aunt,  upon  whose  money  he  is  living,  may  not  discover  the 
truth.  The  entire  atmosphere  is  one  in  which  flirtation  and  divorce 
are  the  accepted  standards  of  life,  and  the  only  character  who 
protests  is  a  prudish  old  woman  who  is  made  ridiculous  throughout. 
Another  choice  specimen  by  a  popular  girlg’  author  is  The  Hundredth 
Chance  by  Ethel  Dell.  The  book  consists  of  over  550  pages.  The 
first  150  are  occupied  in  explaining  the  situation  which  leads  a  proud 
young  society  girl  to  marry  a  man  who  is  a  gentleman  by  nature  but 
a  horse-trainer  by  profession;  the  next  400  tell  a  sordid  story  of  his 
efforts  to  win  his  wife’s  love,  efforts  that  are  thwarted  partly  by  her 
pride  and  partly  by  the  intrigues  of  a  rich  and  titled  scoundrel, 
intrigues  which  frequently  come  too  near  succeeding  to  be  pleasant 
reading;  while  the  final  twenty  pages  relate  the  sensational  rescue  by 
the  wife  of  her  husband’s  favorite  horse,  and  the  tardy  but  complete 
triumph  of  love. 

The  quotation  given  above  is  only  an  unusually  frank  statement 
of  the  appeal  which  the  tang  of  sensationalism  has  for  some  girls. 
And  who  can  tell  what  morbid  and  unholy  thoughts  about  marriage 
and  motherhood  are  suggested  by  novels  such  as  these?  But  grant¬ 
ing  that  much  which  strikes  us  older  readers  as  suggestive  or  impure 
would  slip  harmlessly  from  the  mind  of  the  normal  girl,  there  is  still 
to  be  considered  the  false  sentimentality  of  these  novels.  Rex  Beach, 
Harold  Bell  Wright,  Gene  Stratton  Porter,  Ethel  Dell,  and  a  hundred 
others — do  their  books  ring  true  to  human  life?  Far  more  unwhole¬ 
some  than  any  individual  scenes  which  are  suggestive  of  evil  is 
this  atmosphere  of  exaggerated  and  unreal  sentiment.  It  has  a  tre¬ 
mendous  fascination  for  the  girl  when  her  instinct  for  romance  is  at 
its  height,  but  in  the  very  measure  in  which  it  inculcates  in  her  the 
*  feeling  that  love  is  a  strange,  miraculous  thing,  coming  as  swiftly  and 
mysteriously  as  Cupid’s  arrow  of  classical  traditions,  and  marriage 


10 


SOCIAL  HYGIENE 


a  relation  governed  by  laws  quite  distinct  from  those  that  govern 
other  human  relations,  in  that  measure  it  unfits  her  for  the  clear 
understanding,  and  the  wise  direction  and  control  of  her  own 
developing  nature. 

Now,  what  remedy,  or  better  still,  what  preventive,  can  we  as  Eng¬ 
lish  teachers  offer  ?  One  thing  is  clear :  we  must  not  ignore  the  desire 
of  the  girl,  or  of  the  boy  in  his  later  teens,  for  romance.  Further¬ 
more  we  must  not  attempt  to  satisfy  that  desire  by  that  which  has 
no  virile  appeal  to  the  youth  of  to-day  just  because  it  is  classic. 
Fortunately  there  are  among  our  classics  books  which  have  struck 
the  universal  note  of  human  emotion  and  these  do  not  lose  their  power. 
Let  us  take  account  of  stock. 

Perhaps  the  books  on  our  study  lists  which  touch  upon  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  sex  naturally  divide  themselves  into  two  classes :  first,  those 
which  without  any  suggestion  of  evil  relations  present  ideals  of  pure 
and  chivalrous  love ;  and  secondly,  those  books  which  deal  with  the 
problem  of  evil  passion.  Of  the  first  class  such  works  at  once  sug¬ 
gest  themselves  as  Ivanhoe,  with  its  note  of  Saxon  chivalry ;  The 
Lady  of  the  Lake, ,  where  pure  romance  is  surrounded  with  poetic 
beauty;  As  You  Like  It,  where  the  bubbling  humor  dissipates  the 
atmosphere  of  sentimentality;  Lorna  Doone,  where  the  adventures 
that  love  undertakes  are  all  instigated  by  the  protecting  instinct 
of  a  strong  and  chivalrous  manhood;  The  Tale  of  Two  Cities,  where 
Sidney  Carton  pays  the  extreme  price  of  a  pure  and  unselfish  love; 
and  the  love  lyrics  of  Burns  or  Wordsworth,  where  a  universal 
emotion  is  expressed  in  perfect  form. 

How  do  we  teach  classics  like  these?  Do  we  avoid  the  discussion 
of  the  love  element,  for  fear  of  arousing  the  sentimental  or  the 
frivolous?  If  we  do,  are  we  not  in  danger  of  leaving  the  impression 
that  while  hate  or  jealousy  or  cruelty  or  any  other  emotion  known 
to  man  may  be  analyzed  and  talked  about,  love  alone  is  to  remain 
unmentioned,  either  because  it  is  too  silly  to  be  worthy  of  serious 
consideration,  or  because  it  is  too  sacred  and  mysterious  to  be  com¬ 
pared  with  other  qualities  of  the  human  soul?  Or  may  we  treat  it 
with  an  indulgent  smile,  perhaps,  checking  if  need  be  any  tendency 
toward  a  flippant  attitude,  but  with  a  frankness  and  a  sympathy 
which  shall  bring  an  answering  flash  of  reverent  appreciation  for  the 
love  that  is  pure  and  strong?  Surely  it  is  good  psychology  that  the 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


11 


safest  antidote  against  impurity  is  a  mind  filled  with  thoughts  that 
are  noble  and  true. 

And  then  there  is  that  other  class  of  books  dealing  with  an  impure 
or  an  unwise  love.  What  are  we  doing  with  these  books?  In  Silas 
Marner,  for  instance,  do  we  pass  too  lightly  over  Godfrey’s  early 
marriage,  as  a  subject  a  little  difficult  to  discuss,  and  the  discussion 
capable  of  being  misunderstood?  Have  we  helped  our  pupils  to  trace 
clearly  from  the  marriage — a  marriage  like  many  a  modern  example, 
born  of  alcohol  and  a  momentary  passion — its  inevitable  results :  a 
woman  betrayed,  a  child  deprived  of  its  birthright,  a  pure  trusting 
wife  deceived,  and  the  author  of  all  this  evil  himself  unhappy  because 
of  a  childless  home  and  a  never-ceasing  dread  of  discovery !  Have  our 
pupils  discovered  here  inexorable  moral  laws,  or  have  they  reached 
the  conclusion  that  because  Eppie  found  a  home  and  redeemed  a 
miser,  good  had  come  out  of  evil  and  the  evil  was  therefore  of  com¬ 
paratively  little  account?  Some  one  has  said  that  in  youth  all  life 
is  black  or  white :  the  mixed  greys  come  into  their  consciousness 
later.  We  need  to  see  to  it  very  carefully  that  we  do  not  confuse  their 
clear-cut  standards  of  right  and  wrong  with  our  subtler  balancing  of 
motives,  and  contributing  causes;  but  that  the  ethical  motive  under¬ 
lying  all  great  literature,  that  evil-doing  brings  suffering  and 
remorse,  is  unmistakably  clear. 

Then  there  are  the  Idylls  of  the  King.  Whatever  critics  may 
say  about  the  signs  of  the  decadence  in  Tennyson’s  poetry,  I  believe 
these  beautiful  poems  with  their  atmosphere  of  chivalry  and  purity, 
have  an  eternal  appeal  to  boys  and  girls.  But  they  should  be  taught 
for  the  human  interest  which  they  contain  and  not  for  meter  and 
figures  of  speech,  and  “Guinevere”  should  never  be  omitted.  The 
pupils  will  enter  whole-souled  into  the  tragedy  of  the  Lancelot  story. 
Let  the  teacher  read  earnestly,  interpretively,  Arthur’s  farewell  to 
Guinevere,  and  they  will  paint  their  own  picture  of  Arthur  bowed 
by  personal  suffering  and  despairing  because  his  great  ideal  for  man¬ 
kind  has  been  overthrown,  and  of  Guinevere  wearing  out  her  life  in 
penitence  and  remorse  because  of  a  single  sin.  Read  to  them  Lance¬ 
lot’s  wild,  passionate  quest  for  the  Holy  Grail,  and  they  will  enter 
into  the  bitter  experience  of  a  soul  which  has  rendered  itself  incapable 
of  receiving  the  full  spiritual  blessing  through  the  sin  of  yielding  to 
an  impure  desire. 


12 


SOCIAL  HYGIENE 


But  it  is  not  only  through  the  books  prescribed  for  class  study  that 
we  may  touch  this  problem.  I  believe  that  through  our  supplementary 
reading,  which  so  easily  degenerates  into  mere  routine  and  drudgery, 
if  we  allow  it  to  do  so,  we  have  an  opportunity  scarcely  second  to 
that  of  our  class  discussion.  By  means  of  carefully  chosen  supple¬ 
mentary  lists  and  through  wise  direction  on  the  part  of  the  teacher, 
pupils  may  here  be  given  valuable  suggestions,  more  individual  than 
the  prescribed  study  books,  to  guide  their  own  reading  along  the 
higher  paths,  and  occasionally  there  is  traceable  a  definite  result 
along  the  line  of  our  present  discussion.  May  I  illustrate  from  a  bit 
of  experience  with  The  Scarlet  Letter? 

Last  year  a  boy  who  had  chosen  this  book  from  the  junior  fiction 
list  came  to  me  when  reports  were  due  and  said  that  his  was  not 
ready.  I  asked  him  if  he  had  not  read  the  book  and  he  said,  “Yes,  but 
I  want  to  read  it  again.”  He  read  jt  again,  and  at  least  parts  of  it 
three  times,  and  then  told  me  that  he  considered  this  the  greatest 
book  he  had  ever  read. 

Recently  another  boy  came  to  me  with  some  question  about  his 
written  report,  also  on  The  Scarlet  Letter.  After  discussing  the 
technical  point  involved,  he  said,  “What  do  you  think  about  the  man 
in  that  book  anyway?”  Teacher-like,  I  counter-questioned,  “What 
do  you  think?”  He  hesitated  a  moment,  then  said,  “Well,  I  am  not 
exactly  sure,  but  I  think  he  is  kind  of  a  coward.  ’  ’  And  this  boy,  too, 
said  that  he  wanted  to  read  it  again. 

I  used  to  question  whether  this  book,  because  of  its  problem,  should 
find  a  place  on  our  reading  lists.  Now  I  am  wondering  if  we  should 
not  make  more  use  of  it  than  we  do.  Not  every  pupil  is  equally  im¬ 
pressed  with  it,  of  course,  but  if  some  boys  draw  of  their  own  accord 
the  conclusion  that  the  man  who  will  leave  a  woman  to  bear  all  the 
shame  of  guilt  in  which  he  has  been  at  least  an  equal  partner  is  a 
coward,  it  has  accomplished  a  worthwhile  purpose. 

The  Mill  on  the  Floss  and  Adam  Bede  at  once  suggest  themselves 
also.  But  more  and  more  I  am  convinced  that  our  reading  lists  for 
the  last  years  of  high  school  should  contain  novels  which  present  the 
problem  of  social  evil  from  a  modern  point  of  view.  Such  novels 
as  The  Awakening  of  Helena  Richie  and  The  Iron  Woman  by  Mar¬ 
garet  Deland,  and  The  Bent  Twig  by  Dorothy  Canfield  Fisher,  I 
believe  are  wholesome  reading.  The  latter  especially  I  would  recom- 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


13 


mend  for  thoughtful  senior  girls.1  The  more  frequently  we  can 
introduce  our  pupils  into  the  society  of  authors  who  are  not  mere 
money-making  scribblers  but  real  interpreters  of  life,  the  more  we 
shall  have  added  to  their  power  to  resist  evil  suggestion. 

But  we  need  the  wisdom  of  the  Great  Teacher  himself.  Our  mes¬ 
sage  will  not  “get  across”  in  the  form  of  preaching  or  moralizing. 
Generally,  the  sermonette  that  is  planned  in  advance  is  better  un¬ 
spoken.  We  shall  create  the  very  thing  we  are  trying  to  destroy  if  we 
act  timidly  or  shamefacedly,  and  with  uncertain  touch.  We  shall 
do  harm  rather  than  good  if  we  go  farther  than  the  bond  of  sympathy 
and  confidence  between  us  and  our  class  will  justify.  It  is  well  that 
we  are  being  awakened  to  our  responsibility  in  this  matter ;  we  should 
use  every  opportunity  that  presents  itself,  whether  in  the  quiet  word 
with  a  pupil  who  comes  to  talk  over  a  book  he  has  read,  or  in  a  more 
formal  hour  of  class  discussion,  to  help  these  young  people  to  formu¬ 
late  clearly  and  consciously  the  highest  standards  and  ideals.  We 
must  ourselves  be  big  enough  to  reach  down  into  the  heart  of  the  boy 
or  the  girl  with  an  understanding  sympathy  that  is  touched  with  rev¬ 
erence  as  we  stand  in  the  presence  of  the  greatest  of  all  mysteries,  the 
mystery  of  an  unfolding  life,  and  then  reach  out  into  the  crystallized 
experience  of  all  human  life  and  interpret  to  them  the  things  which 
will  make  them  more  manly  men  and  more  womanly  women. 

i  If  any  of  you  have  attempted  to  compile  lists  for  supplementary  reading,  you 
realize  how  limited  is  the  choice  of  stories  which  are  genuinely  interesting  and  at 
the  same  time  stimulating  and  inspiring.  Some  one  has  said  1 1  most  girls  ’  books 
fall  between  the  Scylla  of  sentimentality  and  the  Charybdis  of  insanity.  ”  May' we 
not  look  to  the  literature  of  the  near  future  for  novels  which  shall  be  as  red- 
blooded  and  ait  the  same  time  as  wholesome  for  girls  in  their  later  teens  as  Little 
Women  is  for  their  younger  sisters? 


OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  SEX  EDUCATION  IN 
ENGLISH  CLASSES 

LOUISE  B.  THOMPSON 

English  Department,  Woodward  High  School,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 


It  is  a  trite  saying  that  all  is  grist  that  comes  to  the  English  mill ; 
and  we  all  recognize  the  fact  that  in  no  department  of  the  school  is 
such  free  reign  given  to  the  teacher,  that  nowhere  is  there  such  flexi¬ 
bility  of  method  or  such  opportunity  to  create  opportunity  as  in 
the.  English  department.  As  a  result,  the  teacher  of  English  is 
expected  to  contribute  to  every  new  movement.  Any  subject  which 
can  be  expressed  in  words  is  thought  to  belong  properly  to  the 
province  of  literature.  Nevertheless,  although  English  is  what 
Aristotle  termed  an  “organon”;  and  although  the  pupil  may  learn 
to  manipulate  the  vernacular  when  he  describes  the  working  of 
an  aeroplane  engine  or  the  cultivation  and  manufacture  of  cotton; 
and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  can  acquire  fluency  in  the  use 
of  the  English  language  by  reading  the  newspaper  or  the  trade 
magazine,  the  teacher  of  literature  does  not  feel  that  she  has  entered 
her  own  field  unless  the  subject  under  consideration,  either  for  inter¬ 
pretation  or  self-expression,  is  one  which  has  to  do  with  human 
relations,  motives  of  conduct,  or  the  eternal  verities.  We  teachers  of 
English  confess  to  a  degree  of  resentment  when  we  are  asked  to  leave 
what  we  consider  our  proper  sphere  to  contribute  to  the  materialistic 
or  commercial  tendencies  of  education.  We  feel  that,  while  a  part 
of  our  work  is  with  the  necessary  technique  of  language,  and  that  in 
such  connection,  content  matters  but  little,  our  great  work  is  with 
the  development  of  character.  To  such  a  subject  as  sex  hygiene, 
therefore,  we  can  contribute  something,  not  scientific  possibly,  but 
nevertheless,  supplementary  and  effective. 

The  department  of  English  has  no  suggestion  to  make  with  regard 
to  the  manner  in  which  scientific  sex  information  or  instruction  should 
be  given.  Our  contribution  consists,  not  in  presenting  facts  concern¬ 
ing  sex,  but  in  emphasizing,  illustrating,  and  vitalizing  those  facts. 

14 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


15 


We  recognize  the  truth  that  knowledge,  in  itself,  has  never  made  for 
purity,  and  that,  for  the  adolescent,  fact  must  be  supplemented  by 
concrete  example.  Our  method  is  therefore  indirect;  probably,  from 
a  scientific  point  of  view,  vague;  and  for  results  we  depend  frankly 
upon  the  teachers’  capacity  for  inspiration. 

Building  for  uprightness  of  character  is  concerned  with  matters 
of  manliness,  womanliness,  purity,  honor,  love,  marriage,  the  home, 
the  family,  the  state.  These  have,  in  all  ages,  been  the  themes  of 
literature.  In  reading  the  classics,  boys  and  girls  come  face  to  face 
with  figures  of  heroic  size  who  have  engaged  in  the  age-old  conflicts. 
It  is  not  difficult,  therefore,  for  the  teacher  of  English  to  pave  an 
approach  to  the  boy  or  girl  who  is  struggling  with  the  tangle  of  his 
own  personal  life.  So  analogous  are  the  problems  of  the  child’s  life 
with  those  of  characters  in  books  that  most  of  us  are  agreed  that  a 
valuable  opportunity  is  lost  when  the  teacher  ignores  sex  problems, 
or  refuses  to  meet  them  squarely,  and  we  have  worked  out  more  or 
less  roughly  a  platform  of  principles  and  methods,  by  which  we  hope 
to  bridge  the  gap  between  the  book  and  the  child.  We  teach  our 
pupils  that  a  book,  to  be  true,  must  portray  real  persons;  that  we 
do  not  expect  to  find  absolutely  perfect  characters  in  fiction  or 
biography  any  more  than  we  do  in  school;  that  we  must  not  be  more 
blind  to  the  faults  of  our  ideal  character  than  to  his  virtues;  that 
ignorance  of  the  facts  of  life  does  not  constitute  innocence,  and  that 
willful  blindness  in  the  face  of  these  facts  is  wicked.  Emphasizing, 
when  opportunity  arises,  these  general  principles,  we  are  ready  to 
discuss  frankly  and  fearlessly  the  specific  example.  Formal  method 
is  conspicuous  by  its  absence,  for  we  realize  that  anything  like  obvious 
design  would  hamper  rather  than  help  us  in  our  efforts. 

To  illustrate,  let  us  review  the  books  read  in  high  school,  note  their 
relation  to  the  age  and  ideals  of  the  pupil,  and  consider  some  of  the 
problems  that  may  arise.  The  classics  read  in  high  schools  through¬ 
out  the  country  have  been  chosen  carefully  with  reference  to  the  age 
of  the  pupil,  his  natural  interests  and  ideals.  Accordingly,  in  the 
ninth  grade,  we  find  books  of  action  and  adventure,  of  daring  and 
doing.  Here  we  emphasize  honor,  fair-play,  self-restraint,  true 
bravery.  At  this  period,  the  child’s  interest  is  not  largely  introspec¬ 
tive,  and  his  hero’s  struggle  must  be  with  an  external  foe. 

In  the  tenth  grade,  we  read  together  our  first  romances.  The  love 


16 


SOCIAL  HYGIENE 


motive  is  accepted  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  we  read  the  tales 
frankly  for  enjoyment,  touching  here  and  there  questions  of  loyalty 
and  honor.  The  boy  admires  Fitz  James’s  sportsmanship  and  Ellen’s 
constancy.  He  can  learn  the  lesson  of  “ noblesse  oblige”  when  with 
Ellen  Douglas  he  enters  the  guardroom  of  Sterling  Castle.  The 
sincere,  though  rough  chivalry  of  John  of  Brent  contrasts  strongly 
with  the  pseudo-gallantry  of  Lewis,  who  alters  his  manner  so  quickly 
when  he  discovers  that  Ellen  is  not  the  unprotected  maiden  he  thought 
her.  When  we  read  Ivanhoe,  the  pupils  memorize  the  oath  of  Arthur’s 
knights  from  Tennyson’s  Idylls  of  the  King: 

*  ‘  To  reverence  the  king  as  if  he  were 
Their  conscience,  and  their  conscience  as  their  king, 

To  break  the  heathen  and  uphold  the  Christ, 

To  ride  about  redressing  human  wrongs, 

To  speak  no  slander,  no,  nor  listen  to  it, 

To  honor  his  own  word  as  if  his  God’s, 

To  lead  sweet  lives  in  purest  chastity, 

To  love  one  maiden  only,  cleave  to  her 
And  worship  her  by  years  of  noble  deeds, 

Until  they  won  her;  ...” 

They  recognize  the  dishonor  of  the  Templar’s  love  for  Rebecca, 
and  some  of  them  realize  the  degradation  of  Ulrica.  The  question 
of  secret  marriage  may  be  discussed  here,  as  also  in  Kenilworth  and 
later  in  Silas  Marner.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  willingness  of 
boys  and  girls  to  discuss  what  constitutes  a  perfect  marriage.  They 
can  be  made  to  see  that  physical  attraction  is  only  one  element,  and 
that  intellectual  companionship,  harmony  of  tastes,  etc.,  must  also 
be  considered.  The  impossibility  of  a  happy  union  between  Godfrey 
Cass  and  Molly,  in  Silas  Marner,  and  the  dishonor  of  Steerf orth’s 
attentions  to  “little  Emily”  in  David  Copperfield  require  but  little 
translation.  Pupils  who  have  grasped  the  full  meaning  of  these  situa¬ 
tions  will  not  be  long  in  discovering  the  falsity  in  the  sensational  movie 
or  magazine.  The  teacher  will  find  abundant  opportunity  to  speak  to 
the  pupils  quite  naturally  of  the  home  and  family  that  will  be  theirs, 
and  of  their  duty  to  transmit  to  posterity  strong  bodies  and  lofty  souls. 
The  naturalness  and  beauty  of  the  family  relation  should  be  empha¬ 
sized  whenever  possible.  In  “The  Cotter’s  Saturday  Night”  and 
in  stories  of  New  England  pioneer  life  will  be  found  good  illustrations ; 
there  are  beautiful  features  in  the  domestic  life  of  Dick  Steel,  and  in 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


17 


the  career  of  Dr.  Johnson  a  wonderful  example  of  both  loyalty  to  wTife 
and  of  unfailing  kindness  to  unfortunate  members  of  a  household. 

Frequent  as  are  the  opportunities  for  emphasis  upon  this  question 
of  sex  relations  throughout  the  high  school,  it  is  in  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  grades  that  there  come  the  supreme  opportunities  for  frank 
discussions  of  the  relations  between  men  and  women.  Here,  however, 
we  find  a  change  in  our  pupils.  Since  they  discussed  Rebecca  and 
the  Templar,  Ulrica  and  Front  de  Boeuf,  our  pupils  have  grown 
older.  Problems  have  ceased  to  be  exterior  to  themselves.  Each 
boy  or  girl  realizes  that  one  of  these  persons  might  be  himself. 
Everything  has  grown  more  personal.  The  task  of  the  teacher  has 
become  more  delicate,  but  should,  nevertheless,  be  faced  with  the  same 
definiteness  of  purpose.  When  we  studied  the  hero  stories  with  little 
children  or  ninth-graders,  we  emphasized  courage  in  act;  when  we 
return  to  the  Arthur  tales  in  the  senior  year,  we  read  Tennyson’s 
“Idylls”  with  the  modern  message  added  to  the  epic.  The  eloquent 
picture  of  Gareth,  the  kitchen -knave  in  Arthur’s  court  who 

wrought 

All  kind  of  service  with  a  noble  ease 
That  graced  the  lowliest  act  in  doing  it. 

. But  if  their  talk  were  foul, 

Then  would  he  whistle  rapid  as  any  lark, 

Or  carol  some  old  roundelay,  and  so  loud 
That  first  they  mocked,  but  after,  reverenced  him. 

will  give  strength  to  many  a  lad  who  is  taking  his  stand  for  upright¬ 
ness.  Sir  Galahad’s 

“My  strength  is  as  the  strength  of  ten 
Because  my  heart  is  pure.” 

becomes  our  text.  We  use  the  expression  “sense  at  war  with  soul.” 
We  speak  of  our  dual  natures,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  spiritual. 
All  are  silent  before  the  beauty  of  Tennyson’s  verse,  especially  when 
the  Grail,  though  veiled,  passes  before  the  eyes  of  the  all-but-pure 
Lancelot.  There  is  but  little  need  for  speech  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher.  The  class  is  upon  holy  ground. 

When  the  class  is  studying  a  great  tragedy,  there  is  abundant 
opportunity  for  emphasizing  results  of  wrong  ways  of  living.  Boys 
and  girls  should  be  taught  that  tragedy,  the  real  tragedy,  consists  in 
the  destruction  by  an  individual  of  his  own  character;  that  the  reac- 


18 


SOCIAL  HYGIENE 


tion  is  sure  whether  of  Macbeth’s  active  crime  or  of  Hamlet’s  inde¬ 
cision.  They  should  be  impressed  with  the  fact  that,  though  payment 
would  be  justly  exacted  of  the  sinner  himself,  the  slow-grinding 
mills  demand  payment  through  generations.  If  Hawthorne’s  stories 
be  used,  there  will  be  found  many  opportunities  for  emphasizing  eter¬ 
nal  justice  and  its  retributive  working  through  conscience.  The 
Puritan  conception  of  the  furies  of  Aeschylus,  the  steady  pursuit  of 
conscience  through  all  avenues,  speak  volumes  on  the  subject  of  per¬ 
sonal  taint.  In  The  House  of  Seven  Gables  Hawthorne  visualizes 
the  eternal  truth  that  seeds  sown  in  one  generation  will  be  harvested 
by  many  generations. 

What  an  opportunity  to  present  moral  truths  is  presented  when 
Wordsworth’s  theories  concerning  memory  are  being  considered! 
How  impressive  may  the  idea  be  made  that  nothing  is  ever  erased; 
that  the  palimpsest  of  youth  may  be  covered  over  with  the  writing 
of  age,  but  that  the  early  writing  will  work  itself  through  to  the 
surface!  This  same  thought  is  brought  out  when  the  class  disagrees 
with  Duncan’s  philosophy  in  Macbeth: 

11  There ’s  no  art  to  find 
The  mind’s  construction  in  the  face.” 

These  considerations  will  lead  easily  to  the  discussion  of  old  age  as 
Wordsworth  presents  it,  or  as  Adam  in  As  You  Like  It  exemplifies 
it,  and  as  Macbeth  fails  to  find  when  he  wails 

“And  that  which  should  accompany  old  age, 

As  honor,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends, 

I  must  not  look  to  have,  but  in  their  stead,  curses.  ’  ’ 

In  Comus  the  subject  of  chastity  is  baldly  considered.  Herer 
the  text  needs  no  comment,  and  the  emphasis  may  be  placed  on  the 
ability  of  the  pure  soul  to  keep  itself  pure.  Milton  reiterates  his 
theme : 

Virtue  may  be  assailed  but  never  hurt, 

Surprised  by  unjust  force,  but  not  enthralled . 

Virtue  could  see  to  do  what  virtue  would 
By  her  own  radiant  light,  though  sun  and  moon 
Were  in  the  flat  sea  sunk. 

Not  only  to  personal,  but  also  to  collective  morality  must  our 
pupils’  attention  be  directed.  Through  the  study  of  American  patri 
otic  prose,  we  may  examine  into  the  causes  of  our  country’s  great 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


19 


ness,  and  touch  upon  the  dangers  which  menace  it.  We  may  make 
liberal  use  of  statistics  and  graphs,  and  analyze  the  characteristics 
and  potentialities  of  Americans.  It  is  not  difficult  to  lead  from  a 
discussion  of  the  literacy  of  our  people  to  their  physical  condition, 
stature,  and  health;  and  under  some  conditions,  army  statistics  of 
disease  might  possibly  be  used. 

There  is  among  teachers  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether 
effective  teaching  can  be  better  accomplished  in  separate  classes  of 
boys  and  girls  than  in  mixed  classes.  Obviously,  many  things  may 
be  said  more  directly  in  separate  classes;  but  at  the  same  time,  there 
is  a  loss  that  must  be  taken  into  account.  We  must  consider  whether 
the  teacher  cannot  go  “just  far  enough”  in  a  mixed  class,  and 
whether,  after  all,  .the‘  good  results  of  an  exchange  of  views  between 
the  sexes  may  not  be  especially  valuable. 

As  boys  and  girls  grow  older,  they  become  interested  not  only  in 
books,  but  in  their  authors ;  and  as  they  read  biography,  new  consid¬ 
erations  arise.  They  read,  too,  lyric  poetry,  and  must  necessarily 
know  something  of  the  life  of  the  man  whose  self-expression  they 
analyze.  The  wise  teacher  does  not  attempt  to  gloze  over  the  errors 
of  the  great.  The  pupil  is  told  that  we  learn  from  the  mistakes  of 
others  as  well  as  from  their  successes.  Burns,  especially,  presents 
difficulties  on  the  personal  side.  To  many,  Burns  is  the  first  poet 
to  whose  appeal  they  can  respond.  He  is  to  them  so  human,  so  like 
themselves.  They  are  puzzled,  nevertheless,  by  his  vicarious  loves, 
and  shocked  at  his  dissipation.  To  it  all,  the  eloquent  answer  is  his 
death  at  thirty-seven.  We  read  aloud  to  them  (with  much  cutting) 
Stevenson’s  study  of  Burns,  and  stress  Carlyle’s  dictum  that  society 
is  to  blame  for  failure  to  provide  proper  environment  for  her  son  of 
genius. 

Possibly  the  greatest  opportunity  which  comes  to  the  teacher  of 
English  who  has  succeeded  in  gaining  the  confidence  of  her  pupils 
upon  the  personal  side,  lies  in  the  recommendation  of  outside  reading. 
We  teachers  have  no  right  not  to  know  the  newer  books  nearer  to  the 
interests  of  the  pupils  than  those  we  read  when  we  were  in  high  school. 
Most  high  school  pupils  are  reluctant  to  admit  their  predilection  for 
love  stories.  The  teacher  who  can  lead  her  pupils  to  appreciate  the 
beautiful  love  story  in  The  Jessamy  Bride;  the  love  of  slow  and 
steady  growth  in  Lorna  Boone;  the  love  based  on  respect  in  She 


20 


SOCIAL  HYGIENE 


Stoops  to  Conquer ;  the  love  revealed  through  self-respect  in  Enoch 
Arden ;  by  being  able  to  enjoy  with  them  0.  Henry’s  charming  love 
stories,  can  wield  a  wonderful  power  for  good.  Dorothy  Canfield’s 
The  Bent  Twig  has  been  known  to  produce  results  better  than  could 
be  obtained  from  ten  lectures  on  personal  relations  between  boys  and 
girls.  The  teacher  of  English  and  the  librarian  by  tactful  suggestion 
can  do  much  to  counteract  the  baneful  efforts  of  the  salacious  movie 
and  the  indiscriminating  household  magazine. 

Furthermore,  the  teacher  of  English  has  a  conspicuous  advantage 
over  her  scientific  colleagues,  in  that  she  has,  in  her  composition 
classes,  a  means  of  measuring  the  reaction  of  class  discussions,  out¬ 
side  reading,  and  other  external  influences.  Pupils’  themes  often  in¬ 
dicate  the  degree  of  success  or  failure  of  our  efforts.  Sometimes 
they  are  wonderfully  illuminating.  From  some  book  reports  and 
editorials  written  by  pupils  in  senior  general  and  commercial  courses, 
I  have  been  permitted  to  select  the  following : 

One  boy  says :  “I  think  that  we  could  attack  moral  problems  more 
successfully  if  we  knew  more  about  them.” 

A  girl  says:  “I  have  heard  people  discuss  what  they  call  the 
double  standard.  .  .  .  Why  should  a  girl  try  her  best  to  be  what 
she  cannot  find  in  her  masculine  friends  ?  ’  ’ 

Another  girl:  “I  read  a  book  recently  about  a  girl  who  was 
avoided  because  of  the  sin  of  her  parents.  Instead  of  being  told  about 
marriage  and  the  sacredness  of  such  a  ceremony,  she  had  a  wrong 
impression.  Not  finding  true  friendship  in  woman,  she  put  her  faith 
in  a  man  who  abused  it.  ’  ’ 

A  boy :  ‘  ‘  Since  reading  this  book,  I  have  determined  to  abandon  my 
friends  whose  thoughts  are  on  vice  and  to  seek  friends  who  are  clean- 
minded.  I  realize  that  a  clean  mind  will  bring  sincere  friends.  Even 
if  I  don’t  gain  another  thing  in  life,  I  will  say  I  have  had  a  great 
victory.  ’ ’ 

Still  another  boy:  “I  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  read  a  book 
written  for  the  benefit  of  girls.  I  found  a  book  called  The  Little >  Lost 
Sister.  Being  a  boy  without  sisters,  I  felt  a  curiosity  to  read  it.  .  .  . 
Now  this  story  started  me  to  thinking  what  I  would  do  if  I  had  a  sis¬ 
ter,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  would  try  to  take  the  greatest 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


21 


care  of  her,  if  only  I  had  a  sister.  ’  ’  The  teacher  added  :  “  And  since 
you  haven’t,  of  course  you  will  protect  other  boys’  sisters.” 

I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  an  editorial  which  shows  how  the 
English  teacher  frequently  can  see  results  of  work  done  in  other  de¬ 
partments.  We  have  at  present  in  our  school  an  unusual  group  of 
boys  in  the  agricultural  class,  whose  instructor  is  teaching  sex 
hygiene  in  an  effective  way,  though  this  branch  of  instruction  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  curriculum.  He  may  be  surprised  to  know  that 
his  colleagues  know  what  he  is  doing.  The  librarian  tells  us  that 
these  boys  read  The  Journal  of  Heredity  regularly  and  ask  for 
Guyer’s  Being  Well  Born  as  naturally  as  they  ask  for  the  Scientific 
American.  An  impromptu  editorial  written  by  one  of  these  boys 
shows  what  he  is  thinking : 

Most  of  us  are  familiar  with  the  old  fable  about  the  young  man 
who  worked  for  a  terrible  giant.  It  was  his  task  to  clean  out  the 
giant’s  stable.  But  the  strange  part  about  it  was,  as  fast  as  the 
refuse  was  thrown  out  one  door,  a  corresponding  amount  came  in 
another  door.  It  can  be  seen  that  the  stable  was  never  cleaned. 

Cannot  the  moral  of  this  fable  be  applied  to  the  methods  of  our 
state  institutions  for  the  insane,  feeble-minded,  and  degenerate?  In¬ 
stead  of  allowing  nature’s  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  to  take 
its  course  we  are  fostering  and  protecting  those  who,  by  the  very 
order  of  things,  would  perish  if  in  competition  with  the  fit.  After 
being  judged  as  cured,  these  unfit  individuals  are  released  and  are 
allowed  to  do  as  they  wish,  which  in  a  large  number  of  cases,  is  to 
marry  and  produce  offspring  which  in  time  are  thrown  into  the  care 
of  our  institutions  and  so  on  unendingly.  It  is  shown  by  statistics 
that  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts  the  number  of  feeble-minded  and 
unfit  doubles  every  thirty  years.  Does  not  this  sound  the  death  knell 
of  the  race  ?  Something  must  be  done  ! 

We  do  not  hesitate  to  send  our  stalwart,  healthy  young  men  off  to 
war  to  be  slaughtered  by  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  but  it 
is  regretful  [sic]  to  say  that  when  drastic  measures  are  mentioned  as 
a  means  of  preventing  the  deterioration  of  the  race,  many  of  us  are 
inclined  to  dodge  the  question,  sometimes  on  the  basis  that  is  is  not 
nice  to  talk  about. 


22 


SOCIAL  HYGIENE 


It  seems  to  me  this  question  promises  in  the  future  to  be  one  of 
the  things  that  must  enter  the  minds  of  thinking  people  as  one  of  the 
largest  questions  ever  put  before  the  American  people. 

Can  we  refuse  to  meet  this  boy  on  his  own  grounds? 

In  conclusion,  allow  me  to  repeat:  the  teachers  of  English  do 
assist,  though  indirectly,  in  building  a  structure  for  purity.  We 
expect  to  appeal  to  the  spiritual  side  of  sex  life.  We  expect  to 
emphasize  ‘  ‘  the  good,  the  true,  the  beautiful  ” ;  to  assist  in  the  control 
of  the  will.  We  endeavor  to  establish  relations  of  confidence  with 
our  pupils  which  will  make  discussions  of  vital  questions  with  proper 
individuals  frank  and  free  from  unworthy  suggestion.  Our  aim  is 
to  create  habits  of  right  thought.  Let  me  make  very  clear  our  position. 
We  are  engaged  in  a  labor  the  results  of  which  are  distant  and  difficult 
to  measure.  We  do  not  claim  that  either  our  subject  or  our  method 
has  curative  powers.  Possibly  we  never,  probably  seldom,  arrest  a 
downward  career.  Our  work  is,  we  think,  preventive.  We  know  that 
we  can  supplement  the  work  of  the  teacher  of  biology  and  the  social 
worker.  Our  hope  is  that  the  ideals  to  which  we  introduce  our  pupils 
will  bear  them  on  and  up. 


